String Ensembles

We will offer a FREE update for Miroslav Vitous String Ensembles, "Composers Dream" Library by the end of 2011. New samples, new mappings, looped instruments, moving keysplit programs and „1st Chair“ modus are some of the highlights of the update.

Miroslav Vitous poursuit son œuvre avec une toute nouvelle collection perpétuant la démarche initiale des célèbres séries Miroslav Vitous des années 90. Sans compromis, avec une qualité maximale et en se concentrant sur la qualité d´interprétation, c´est le succès qui est au rendez-vous - un réalisme 100% efficace aussi humain que possible, pour apporter la plus grosse inspiration à vos productions. Pas de gadgets de programmation chez Vitous qui oriente tout son savoir-faire vers la captation directe des sonorités acoustiques les plus authentiques. Cette collection se focalise sur le jeu des instruments afin de rendre possible la traduction des techniques habituelles de composition vers un enregistrement finalisé détaillé et ultra réaliste.

Miroslav Vitous about his project:

"This library is made for composers of the high end and focuses on the performance itself.
Not using any marketing hypes such as midi tools etc. (As I have tested those, they do not work very well). Samples edited by hand did the job much greater and much more realistic as you will hear.
There is no need (Like in my old library and other large size products) to study the contents for long time as you just simply open…. for example the harmony medium fast instrument… and it will accomplish exactly music for that kind of articulation. It is made for harmony played up to medium fast speed. A side from this function it will also play Long notes, quite fast lines etc… but it is at its best to play this specific function.
That goes for all the other instruments as well as they play many other functions but I picked them at their best performance for each specific function. You will not have to do almost any editing at all. Only the music or your keyboard playing if you need to change would be the issue here. No tweaking the midi etc. is necessary! (All of you composers who have experience in this will know what I mean) The beginning attacks are correct as they sound live; no need to fix them in any artificial ways etc…. and they truly sing and express as the live players do. (Without changing that with technology) All of this is included already within the instrument it self, slight detune (actually the violins has even different tunings for different functions), the vibrato not the same everywhere. Different samples by using the Alternate feature in the ENGINE software will make it as realistic and more as live orchestra. And it plays music and music ….. highly inspiring….perhaps that is the biggest asset of this library.

A side from sections instruments large ensembles and Chamber, there will be an update of more Chamber orchestra in completion and Orchestra programs for both sizes which will be specially prepared. Violins/Violas/Cellos/Basses. The sonic spectrum is kept as free as possible in each program. (So you don’t have overlapping sonic problems with too many instruments playing the same note). Those will be magic in full force.
In this library we have done all the instruments in 4 different ways to play them. As I found out testing each of these ways makes you play music differently because of the way they are set up and they feel and they function.
Most of the instruments are in Keyswitches but there is a lot more in Velocity zones as well as in Alternate samples function (because there is not enough Keyswitches to cover all the possibilities and is convenient having the change done automatically), All this allows you to use all the different samples we have used.
For the 4th possibility I have also decide to have those instruments in MF-F and MP –PP levels (as you may need to play music staying in the same volume not to have to worry about the velocity changing). I founded this to be a problem if I wanted to play some intense music in PP inside the velocity zone I kept getting hung up on the keyboard volume getting louder notes than I wanted. Therefore I include these instruments (as they are the same material which is in Velocity Zones and some extras) so it is possible to get into one volume and stay there. It is sometimes better. These instruments have a high dynamic range already MF plays MP velocity anyway already.

This is in comparisment with other products tremendous because the amount of the patches of each articulation is far passed other libraries contents. At least 6-8 different patches on each articulation style. LN/DET/STACC/LEGATO/ That of course makes it even more so highly realistic.
Just for the record each of these patches are the top of the cream level. We did not for example put the best patches in the general Keyswitches because we don’t know what are the best patches. They are all great - slightly different tone, texture, attack etc….
All the patches are playing very well on its own doing legato mostly also as well as expressiveness and quite fast speed. (LN can play faster than medium fast tempos) It is amazing how much you can do with 1 LN patch without even having to go to a specialized patch. There are however specific patches playing faster and slower,legatos,runs, beautiful expressive long notes as well as none expressive etc…..
These samples are no longer to me considered as samples because they each have some kind of a performance in them. Expressiveness or diminuendo or simply crescendo, decrescendo is all within the instruments built in.
The highlight of this product is having instruments programs at your disposal which make it possible to play any specific way you need in your composition. It has been all prepared for all of these musical parts you need to do. You will find detail description in the contents text..

This library was made for composers and plays music like magic.
All the latest technology hype which other producers are busy with using machines to achieve these ways was done here by hand in original sound therefore natural. We have gone as far as not even tuning digitally the samples as we could clearly hear that the sample digitally adjusted has degraded its quality. We believe in healthy balance in between using the technology and human capabilities but always keep the highest sonic quality. Inspiration is another huge issue here which is perhaps largest part of this library which we can not say anything about other than thanks the spirit of music for making this possible.
This one plays music like magic.
It was made for the music, not for the money and not for the marketing hypes etc……"

Miroslav Vitous

Plus d'information

System requirements

Best Service ENGINE Sample Player is included in this product!

Mac OS

• Mac OS 10.4, 10.5 or higher
• Min. recommended: G5 or Intel Mac 1.8GHz, 1GB Ram
• Interfaces: Standalone, AU, VST, RTAS (32bit)

Windows

• Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, 32bit & 64bit
• Min. recommended: Pentium/Athlon XP 3.0GHz, 1GB Ram
• Interfaces: Standalone, VST (32bit and 64bit), RTAS (32bit only)

for all systems

• DVD drive
• Internet connection for product activation required (on any computer)
• Additional hard disc space according to the library size
   

Product activation:
An internet connection on any computer is required to authorize / activate the product (Challenge/Response).

Revue de presse

Sound On sound Magazine Dezember 2010

Miroslav Vitous String Ensembles
Sample Library
Published in SOS November 2010
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Reviews : Sample / Sound / Song Library
The Vitous brand has a great reputation in the world of orchestral samples. Does this brand-new library live up to it?
David Ricard

The name "Miroslav" is nothing new to any musician who uses samples in their productions. His original orchestral sample library, which I own in Akai format, was the source for convincing orchestral mock-ups. Fast forward a decade or so to the present day and Miroslav�s original library is still being employed by composers and producers, for its simplicity and, more importantly, for its great sound.
With Miroslav´s latest release, String Ensembles Composer´s Dream (to give it its full title), I couldn´t help but expect to have my socks knocked off. Miroslav´s name alone evokes so much integrity that his new string library promises to raise the bar. For the last month, I�ve been testing String Ensemble´s features, challenging it against the other top players in the field and using it in professional productions. Were my expectations met? Am I, in fact, sockless? Read on.
Nuts & Bolts
The entire String Ensembles library (SE from here on in) ships on a single DVD. At first, this was a bit off-putting. After all, for its retail price, I would expect SE to be so massive that it would ship on a hard drive or at least a half dozen discs. Well, here´s the thing: after it´s transferred to your hard drive, the library weighs in at around 6.5GB. Miroslav may be a master at getting the most out of small sample sizes but in 2010, that´s still a little light, right? However, the Best Service Engine Player (more on this later) decompresses the samples on the fly, so in fact you´re getting 35 to 40 gigabytes of data. Some modern-day composers may feel that unless they spend a day feeding their computer discs and having to use a new hard drive for each library, they�re being short-changed, but I´m totally cool with SE´s smaller footprint. After all, this is a string section, not an entire orchestra.
Miroslav Vitous String Ensembles, in essence, contains two string ensembles: the Large Ensemble (24 violins, 14 violas, 12 cellos, and nine basses) and the Chamber Ensemble (14 violins, eight violas, five cellos and four basses). Various articulations and approaches are provided for each instrument group.
Interface-off

The Mixer section of the Best Service Engine software.
The Mixer section of the Best Service Engine software.
Installation posed no problems, so in a matter of minutes I was face-to-face with the interface. As I mentioned before, SE uses Best Service�s Engine sample player plug-in (powered by Yellow Tools Technology) to interface with the library. Engine, while not being as ubiquitous as some sample-player plug-ins, is a robust piece of software that contains very powerful editing features in its Pro Edit section, as well as flexible mixing and routing options. Its basic interface bears a resemblance to NI�s Kontakt, which made it seem familiar enough to make using Engine comfortable straight away. It runs in both stand-alone and VST, RTAS and AU plug-in modes.
I have to admit that I was a little confused about this library when it first arrived. Why would a string library boast the subtitle "Composer´s Dream? I didn´t spend a lot of time thinking about it and dived right into the patches. Big mistake. There´s a concept behind SE, and it needs to be understood. The manual, written by Miroslav himself (for better or for worse), is essential reading if you want to grasp the potential of the library. The basic idea is that the samples are meant to be used as performances, as opposed to raw data to be manipulated into sounding natural. This approach ensures that the end result is as organic as possible.
The other philosophy behind SE, and one of its greatest strengths, relates to how it´s meant to be played. While numerous articulations are available as separate patches, the basic large key-switch patches contain most of the meat-and-potato articulations required for string writing: legato, detache, up/down bow, vibrato, tremolo, sforzato, sul ponticello and so on. Although the Quick Edit page of the Engine player provides some options for changing reverb pitch and dynamic range, I found that if the correct articulation and dynamic was selected, very little tweaking was necessary.

In Use

Engine´s Pro Edit Section provides many sound sculpting possibilities.
Putting SE through its paces was simple enough. The familiar layout of the interface and the efficient organisation of the patches make String Ensembles a very easy-to-use sample library.
I was expecting the sound to be outstanding and I wasn´t disappointed. The detail that was captured to give the �performances� the most natural sound is evident. On the other hand, the lack of tweakability leaves the composer somewhat stranded at times. For instance, the swells are fantastic, but there´s no way to control them, so you have to adjust your playing accordingly.
Because it´s laid out so simply, it´s easy to overlook how much there is in this library. For example, I didn´t go near the Chamber sections until I´d been using SE for a week or two. Another big mistake on my part. The Chamber samples are highly evocative, and perhaps even more lifelike than their larger counterparts. They also offer workarounds for dividing your sections.
I used SE on a cue I was developing for a cartoon series. The piece started off with a romantic violin melody accompanied by viola and cello. String Ensembles held its own on this section, but when the tempo doubled up and I needed a tight, rhythmic chugging from the strings, SE, while not failing, didn�t give me what I needed. To be fair, no single library does everything well, so I didn´t hold it against SE.
SE�s strength lies in its approach rather than its features. For example, many composers who like to work the same way I do  starting a project with a large palette of sounds but with some basic patches to actually write with  will be attracted to SE. As a matter of fact, this is what I think is String Ensemble´s greatest appeal. To be able to have violins, violas, cellos and basses in a fast loading, low CPU-drain template, with all the articulations available in one patch each, is a terrific boon. While other libraries focus on getting the sound exactly right, in most cases they neglect to make patches that are easy to write with. When a composer is constructing an orchestral mock-up, the orchestration stage is like microsurgery. For this application, String Ensembles would not be my first-choice library, but where it does excel is in getting you to that point.
String Ensembles is great to work with. After you learn a few key-switches, it enables you to write for strings in real time. One thing I would like to see, though, is the name of the current articulation in Engine. While it seems that should be evident from the sound, it isn´t always, and I find writing with an open manual on my lap unnerving!
The built-in reverb supplied with String Ensembles is quite good and is, like everything in SE, very simple to employ. Interestingly, though, Miroslav himself doesn´t gush over the included reverb and, in fact, states in the manual that a Lexicon or similar is preferred for the library. Hey, I told you this guy has integrity.
Verdict
Let me say first that String Ensembles is a fantastic composition tool that adds great realism via an intuitive working method. I would certainly recommend it over other libraries as a starting point for your string writing, and, as I said earlier, it may become my main writing tool for strings. However, in terms of bang for the buck, it´s a little feature-shy.
Niggles include the fact that there�s no looping on long notes, and while this was surely a choice made in order to keep it real, that´s little consolation when the notes in your chord are ending at different times. There´s currently a trend towards the provision of divisi-able string sections in the current crop of string libraries, which may be too detail-centric for SE, but the lack of second violins seems like an unwise omission. Finally, while solo strings would be a nice touch, I can understand them not being included in a string ensemble library. However, the lack of trills is somewhat disappointing.
I believe SE to be a great complement to other libraries (which also fall short in certain areas) but I don´t see it as being the one library to have if you can only afford one. I don´t say this because it´s weak, but because I think most consumers, after spending 600$1000 on a sample library, want to boot it up and be dazzled. That´s not what this library does  on the surface, anyway. This library is for creating music.

Alternatives
There´s no shortage of professional string libraries on the market at the moment. Los Angeles Scoring Strings is attracting the most buzz currently, due to its true divisi, programmable legato, and powerful rhythm tools. VSL are always contenders with their string libraries, and Hollywood Strings from EastWest is also a worthy contender for your string-library budget.

System Requirements:
Mac: PowerMac G4 or Intel Mac 1GHz, 512MB RAM, Mac OS 10.4 or higher, 6GB free hard disk space, DVD drive. Recommended: PowerMac G5 or Intel Mac 1.8 GHz, 1GB RAM.
PC: Pentium/Athlon XP 1.4GHz, 512MB RAM, Windows XP/Vista, 6GB free hard disk space, DVD drive. Recommended: Pentium IV/Athlon XP 3GHz, 1GB RAM.

Published in SOS November 2010